Billboard 100
by BubblyFanatic
Summary: A series of one-shots between Clary and Jace based on the song lyrics of popular music (It's hard to write a summary for a collection of short stories but just know that there's lots of Clace involved!). I was challenged by my friend to do this and I'll be taking suggestions of songs for the next chapters. In-progress.
1. Welcome to New York

"Welcome to New York" by Taylor Swift

_When we first dropped our bags_  
_On apartment floors_  
_Took our broken hearts_  
_Put them in a drawer_  
_Everybody here was someone else before_  
_And you can want who you want_  
_Boys and boys and girls and girls_

_Welcome to New York_  
_It's been waiting for you_  
_Welcome to New York_

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me." Clarissa Fray looked up and down at the strange blonde man standing in the apartment. _Her _new apartment.

His bemused expression was almost comical as he blinked at her. "What are you doing in my apartment?"

"What?" she spluttered. "_I_ should be the one asking you that. Hold on." Clarissa picked up her phone and dialed her #1 speed dial. "Simon. You said I was moving into your friend's old apartment right?"

The stranger stared at her in confusion as her eyes widened. "When were you planning on telling me that your friend was letting his cousin live here too?" With a huff, she hung up.

"Jace Wayland, I presume?"

"What are you doing in my apartment?" he repeated, leaning back against the wall comfortably and tapping his foot.

Clarissa blushed in embarrassment. "I'm Clarissa Fray and I just moved to New York City from California. My friend Simon Lewis told me that he hooked me up with a new apartment. He didn't tell me that I would have a new roommate though." She paused. "And judging from your expression, you didn't know either."

"Well, I did want to live alone. But if I did have to have a roommate, you're not bad on the eyes," he winked. "Why don't I help you unpack."

She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I'm living with a womanizer."

"It won't be bad, I promise. I don't snore, according to the girls I have slept with."

"Mhm," she acknowledged, skeptical. By the time she had unpacked all of her clothes and set up her workplace, she frowned at the clock. It was six in the evening already. She walked across the hall to Jace's bedroom. It was slightly ajar, so she pushed it open and stepped in. Expecting to see him sitting at his desk, she was instead treated to a shirtless Jace stepping out of the shower.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" he asked calmly, crossing his arms—his _very _muscular arms—across his chest. "Or did you come in to sightsee?"

Blushing furiously, Clarissa spun around and faced the wall. "I just wanted to ask if you knew any good restaurants near here. Also, close the door fully next time you shower."

"I'm not sure a closed door will keep a hormonal woman out of my room," he teased. "You can turn around now."

He had pulled on a light blue dress shirt and was now drying his hair.

"Why are you so dressed up? Got another date tonight?" She looked down at her own attire—a "I hate Mondays" sweater and leggings—and frowned. _I'm such a loser. I need to get married before I turn 30 or I'm going to be an old maid, _she thought grimly.

"Well, yes, actually," Jace replied, pulling on a blazer and straightening his tie. "With you. Didn't you ask about restaurants? I know a really good one downtown but it's formal attire. Get dressed, honey." His elevator eyes roamed up and down her lazy day outfit. "On second thought, I think I'll have to plan your outfit for you. Since you obviously have no sense of fashion."

Before she could protest, he barged into her closet and started searching through her dresses. He muttered occasionally to himself before he found an elegant red gown. "This one will do. Pair it with some black heels and gold earrings and you'll be stunning."

"Are you sure you're not gay?"

He huffed indignantly before returning to his own room. "Don't worry about locking your door when you change. I'm not sure there's anything I want to see, anyways." Jace closed his own door shut before Clarissa could respond.

"Is it too late to move out and find a new apartment?" she moaned to herself. After putting on the outfit that Jace had designated, she grabbed her curling wand and fixed her hair. She put on some black eyeliner and swiped on some bright red lipstick. A few minutes later, she heard Jace knocking on her door.

"Clarissa! The reservation is at 7:30 so we need to get going."

"You're so impatient," she grumbled as she stepped out. Hearing no response, she looked up and met Jace's gold-speckled eyes. His Adam's apple bobbed once as he swallowed.

"You look stunning," he said simply, his voice sounding a little husky.

Clarissa blushed. "Thanks. You look great in that suit, too. Very classy."

"May I?" her roommate extended an arm and she took it. "My car is parked in the parking garage downstairs."

He guided her toward a shiny new BMW and she gave it an approving look. "I spent two years saving up for a car like that and I ended up spending the money on a vacation to Hawaii with my ex."

"Ex? He must have been dumb to let go of you."

"'Let go'," she repeated. "That's a nice substitute for 'dumped'."

Jace's expression tightened but he didn't respond. He opened the passenger door for her before sliding into the driver's seat. He handed her his iPhone, which was connected to the car via an auxiliary cord. "Go ahead and pick whatever music you want to listen to."

She gave him a sly grin. "Really?" She scanned his music quickly before gasping. "You actually have Taylor Swift on your phone!" Within seconds, "You Belong With Me" was playing shamelessly out the open windows. "No shame," Clarissa said defensively when he looked at her weirdly.

"Not going to lie," he said slowly, "Taylor Swift is my jam."

She gasped before giggling. "Me too! Jace, we're basically soul-mates," she teased, turning away before she could observe the strange look that flitted across his face.

When they arrived at the Italian restaurant, they were guided toward a table lit by candlelight. "So," Jace asked, "what brings you to New York?"

"I work as a doctor and they opened up a new clinic here, so I decided to transfer. San Francisco got kind of boring. How about you? How long have you been living in that apartment?"

Jace nodded thoughtfully. "You seem like the kind of person who would want to help others. I actually moved here three months ago. I was working as a CFO at my dad's company but I'm taking a break."

"You can just 'take a break' as a CFO?"

"Well." Jace shifted uncomfortably in my chair. "To be honest, it really is just a euphemism for getting fired. My girlfriend cheated on me and I became unmotivated to work. My dad kicked me out because I wasn't fulfilling my responsibilities. I moved here to get over her, and then I'm planning on getting my job back."

"Ambitious," Clarissa remarked, eating a forkful of her salad. "Are you over your girlfriend then?"

Jace paused before answering. "I just got the last push I needed to forget her, so yes."

She cocked her head in confusion, her brown curls almost falling into her food. "Care to elaborate?"

"Maybe one day," he responded cryptically. He smirked at her disappointed expression.

"Fine, be mysterious," she pouted. Her phone beeped and she read the new text she had received. "Looks like I might have to cut our 'date' short," she said apologetically, showing him the text.

**From: Simon Lewis**. _"Hey, if you have nothing better to do tonight, come over to my house and we can marathon 'Prison Break'."_

"He only said to go if you have nothing better to do," Jace responded, his voice unintentionally taking on a whining tone. "And I'm fairly certain that you have better things to do."

She sighed. "Alright, 'Prison Break' can wait until after dinner then."

"And I actually agreed to go a rave tonight," her roommate quickly added. "So unless you want to walk home, you're going to have to accompany me to that."

"You have got to be kidding me," she complained, taking a furious bite of her pasta. "Day one and my roommate is already blackmailing me." However, she sent off a quick text to Simon. "I'm ditching my best friend for you, so this rave better be good."

He watched her for a minute before smirking. "Let me take a wild guess and say that you've never been to a rave before."

She glared at him for a minute before relinquishing. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, your room is freakishly neat and you have piles of research papers on your desk instead of Vogue magazines. That kind of screams workaholic."

"And this is why I'm still hopelessly single."

Jace glanced at his roommate again. "I'm sure you'll find a lot of eligible bachelors in your time in New York."

"That's the hope, anyways. Maybe I'll find a cute doctor in the clinic."

"Maybe you don't even need to look that far."

"What do you mean?"

The waitress stepped in and handed Jace the check. Clarissa rolled her eyes. "There is no way I'm letting you pay for my food." She snatched the receipt and raised an eyebrow at it, before handing it back. "On second thought, I don't think this was meant for me."

He took it questioningly and read the note on top in cursive. _"You're cute. If you ever decide to ditch your date, call me: (212) 315- 1991."_

"Don't worry, babe, I would never ditch you for her," he joked, pulling out his credit card. "Alright, are you ready to go?"

"Yep. You were right, by the way, this restaurant is wonderful."

"It seems I have good taste."

* * *

Five steps into the rave and Clarissa already wanted to back out. "There's so many people here," she whispered to Jace. He caught her when a drunk girl almost accidentally tripped her.

"Trust me, it'll be fun. Let's go to the dance floor. Are you any good at dancing?"

"Not at all," she responded adamantly.

"What about drinking? Can you hold your liquor?"

She repeated her earlier sentence and Jace ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Clarissa, you're no fun," he complained.

"Sorry. This is what you get for dragging a doctor out of her comfort zone," she laughed.

Jace put a hand on the small of her back and continued guiding her deeper and deeper into the crowd. Suddenly, his hand met resistance and Clarissa started backing up.

"What's wrong?"

"No way," she murmured softly in response. She turned heel and started walking towards the bar.

"Shot of whiskey please?"

Jace slid into the bar stool next to her. "I thought you said you couldn't drink."

He sat there silently as he watched her down the alcohol and ask for more. Three drinks later, he stopped the bartender who was about to hand her another shot glass. "You give her any more whiskey," he threatened firmly, "and I'll make sure you lose your job." Jace turned his attention back to his roommate.

"It's my ex. He's here," she confided hysterically, collapsing against his shoulder. "I didn't know he was in New York. You might be over your ex-girlfriend but I'm still hung up on Sebastian."

Jace froze. Sebastian was a regular at many of the parties that Jace had gone to. And as far as Jace knew, he was definitely someone to avoid.

"Oh my god, he's coming this way. Hide me," Clarissa muttered, her words slightly slurred.

"Clary!" a tall, black-haired man approached them, a pretty brunette by his side. "I didn't know you came to New York."

She reluctantly turned and forced a smile. "I just got here."

"Well, it certainly is nice to see you. I'm sorry about the way things ended between us, but I'm glad to have run into you again. Would you like to dance?"

Jace snaked an arm around Clarissa's waist and patted Sebastian's shoulder with his other hand. "Actually, she's taken."

"Jace Wayland, is it? I've seen you around. I also heard you have a new girl every night. Do you think you could spare my ex for a few minutes though? I'd really like to fix the way our relationship ended." Sebastian reached out and pulled Clarissa's hand. "Let's go outside to talk, baby."

"How about no." Jace grabbed Sebastian's hand and loosened it from Clarissa and pulled his roommate behind him. "Come on, Clarissa."

He guided his slightly tipsy roommate to the dance floor. "Is it okay if I put my hands here?" he asked, hands hovering tentatively around her waist.

"Mhm," she murmured, leaning into him. "Thanks for saving me. You smell really good."

Jace laughed as he watched her bounce around awkwardly. "No wonder you said you couldn't dance."

"Shut up, Wayland. Let's see you dance."

* * *

As the crowd slowly thinned, Clarissa headed back to the bar. "Hey, can I have another shot of whiskey?'

The bartender nervously glanced at her. "I really don't think that's a good idea. Especially considering your boyfriend."

"You're supposed to _give _me alcohol, not deny it. Are we back in the ages of prohibition?" she complained loudly.

"I'm glad to see you value your job," Jace said, gliding next to Clarissa and giving the bartender an approving look. "Clarissa, you've already had too much to drink. Let's go."

He guided her towards her car and seated her next to him.

As he drove home, she suddenly rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for today, Jace. It was fun. And you saved me from Seb."

"I enjoyed our date, Clarissa," he responded sincerely. He helped his drunk roommate up the stairs to their apartment and led her to her bedroom. When she collapsed into her bed, however, she dragged Jace with her. Surprised, he landed on bed right on top of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't go."

He winced at the awkwardness of the situation. "Clarissa, I'm Jace, not Sebastian."

"I know," she said softly and kissed him.

* * *

When Clarissa woke up the next day with a pounding headache, she trudged out of her bedroom to the kitchen, where Jace was already seated with breakfast.

"So, how much do you remember about last night?" he asked hesitantly.

She nonchalantly grabbed a glass and poured milk into it. "Nothing at all," she lied.

* * *

**Hope you liked the first chapter! Like I mentioned in the summary for this, I was challenged by my friend to write one-shots of Clace based off of pop lyrics. I'll be taking suggestions from you guys for the future chapters though. Thanks for taking the time to read!**

**~BubblyFanatic**


	2. Fight Song

"Fight Song" by Rachel Platten

_Like how a single word  
Can make a heart open_

…

_This is my fight song  
Take back my life song  
Prove I'm alright song  
My power's turned on  
Starting right now I'll be strong  
I'll play my fight song  
And I don't really care if nobody else believes  
'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me_

* * *

He doesn't notice her until he's right about to walk into the ring. And when he does take note of her fiery red hair, Jace can't help but sneak glances at her in between punches. Every time he sees her, her sparkling green eyes are serious and calculating.

When he grabs his prize money ($415 in bets against him, since his opponent was twice his size), he takes a detour and asks around the bartenders until he finds someone who knows her.

"Yeah I know her," the hulky guy says as he shakes up the next cocktail. "There aren't many girls around here, and even fewer that have red hair. Come to think of it, I think she's the only one, but she's always quiet. I don't even know her name but she prefers scotch."

Jace's eyebrows quirk up. "She prefers scotch? How long has she been here?"

The bartender scrunches his nose as he thinks. "Six months, maybe?"

Jace doesn't even try to hide his surprise. _Six months? How come I've never noticed her?_

"Anyways, why the interest? I don't think I've ever seen her place bets."

He shrugs it off, because to be honest, he doesn't know why he's intrigued either. As he's walking away, the bartender calls after him. "In case you were wondering, Jace, she placed her bets on you today. She's one of the three who did."

At first, Jace's ego is hurt. He knows that people think he's losing his touch—he's been on a losing streak for the past month—and people have become extremely hesitant to bet against him. It's his strategy so that he can earn more prize money when he does win, but still his ego is bruised. However, he zeroes in on the bartender's words and feels a bit of pride when he realizes the girl saw enough potential in him to place her bets. _She has a good eye for talent, _he thinks to himself.

That's why he's slightly hurt—no, _really _offended—when he loses to Sebastian Verlac and he sees her disappear out the door with a bag full of money. This time, everyone had been betting on Jace since he had returned to his winning streak, but a well-placed kick from Sebastian set him on a gradual decline until he found himself collapsed in the ring. This loss wasn't part of his calculations and he was more than a little miffed when Sebastian sneered at him before hopping out of the ring.

It takes Jace a while to pick himself back up as he nurses his dislocated shoulder, but he's up and running soon enough. "Hey!" he shouts as he chases the girl out the door. She pauses before turning around. He watches as her eyes roam up and down, observing the green bruise on the right side of his chest, the awkward way his arm meets his shoulder, and a forming black eye. "Why did you bet against me?"

"Why would I reveal that?" she replies coolly, turning to leave again.

"Wait, what's your name?"

"That's on a need-to-know basis, and you obviously don't need to know," she sasses back.

"What are you doing in a fight club? You realize this is all illegal, right?"

"I know what I'm doing."

It's the last thing she says before she walks off, her sack of coins clinking.

So, the next day, when Sebastian yells into the crowd for a challenger and she crawls into the fighting ring, Jace is seriously questioning her last sentence. He watches as she literally has to jump to get in, since she's so short.

Sebastian glances at her with his trademark sneer. "You?"

She looks around and meets his gaze once again. "No, the air molecules next to me."

The crowd hushes and once again, Jace hears her last sentence again in his mind and thinks there is something really wrong with this girl.

Sebastian grits his teeth. "Alright. See you here in a month."

"Why not tomorrow?"

"Girl, you have got a death wish," Jace mutters under his breath. The crowd around him is dead silent, everyone watching the encounter with a morbid curiosity.

The muscular man in the ring seems dumbfounded at first before he visibly collects himself and flexes his arms. "I'm out of town on vacation… paid for by prize money." He glances at Jace pointedly and the golden-haired man bites his lip to refrain from responding to the taunt.

The girl shrugs, her seemingly frail arms dangling at her sides. "Clary Fray. You've got yourself a fight."

"Clary Frail? You're on," Sebastian taunts as he watches the girl slide out of the boxing ring. "Be sure to bring someone with you next month—someone's gotta pick up the broken pieces."

She ignores him, though her cheeks begin to match the color of her hair, and brushes past Jace as she stalks out of the room. He can't fathom what would motivate her to sell her life to the fight club, but he tells himself to forget about it. After all, he's got another fight to win tomorrow.

Jace is out of the club for the afternoon and decides to cruise along the beach. He picks up a foot-long from Subway and runs back to the club for his daily 8:00 pm practice. Jace grabs the heaviest punching bag and hangs it in the middle of the ring. Left punch, right punch, dodge, kick to the sand bag.

An hour into his practice, a voice startles him so much that he head-butts his sandbag and falls to the floor.

"What is it?" he grumbles.

"Can you show me how to do that?" the voice repeats. Jace looks up and sees the frail girl from before. Clary.

"A simple kick and twist move isn't going to help you win a fight against Verlac," he scoffs.

"He has a weak left side. If I can aim and time it right, I have a chance of knocking him down," she replies seriously, arms crossed.

He frowns as he appraises her. She's skinny and probably no taller than 5' 4", but she has a smoldering fire in her eyes. Or it could be her hair that was giving off that effect, but Jace was inclined to believe that it was determination. "Alright," he gives in. "But in exchange, you have to explain to me your rationale for challenging Verlac. Even _I_ lost to him, you know."

"That's because you don't look up when you fight. If you did, he wouldn't have caught you by surprise and tore out your right shoulder," she explains patiently.

Jace just glares at her and waits for her explanation, though he can't help but be impressed by what she had observed. It was true, he did have a tendency to look down during fights.

She swallows, her throat bobbing. "I need the money." Clary climbed into the ring next to Jace and he realized that was all he was going to get for the time being.

"Alright, I'm going to show you in slow motion." He grabbed the sandbag by the chain and kneed it, before twisting around the bag and throwing a punch in from behind. Clary watched silently before trying it herself. She was a bit clumsy and lacked the same power that Jace had, but she had closely matched his move.

"No, you have to pull the person closer before you kick," Jace interrupted after watching Clary practice the move for the sixth time. She tried again, but Jace could see that any opponent would easily dodge the kick. "Come here, I'll show you."

He stood behind her and reached around her to grab the sandbag. "You need to be this close," he said. He grabbed the bag until Clary was sandwiched between the bag and Jace. She turned around to look at him, big green eyes meeting his golden ones, before she cleared his throat. He immediately dropped the bag.

"Ahem. Go ahead and try that," he muttered, turning around and flushing scarlet. For some reason, her eyes had a weird effect on him.

An hour later, she basically had the move perfected. "You're a fast learner," Jace observed, "but you don't have enough power in your biceps to beat Verlac."

"I've been hitting the gym. I'll be fine."

As she walks out the door, her duffel bag across her shoulder, she waves at him. "See you here tomorrow, 8 o' clock sharp."

And that's how Jace inadvertently became Clary Fray's personal trainer.

* * *

It takes one week of Jace's teaching combined with Clary's own gym commitments for Jace to feel more strength in her punches. He has to admit, though, that she was clearly a fast learner. The time she had spent watching the other fights had helped her develop her own strategy, though there was something familiar about it.

It's her sweep that shakes Jace's memory. The way she swings her feet around in a wide circle, lightning fast, so that the opponent will always lose his balance. It is definitely an old tactic, but the way she leaps around agilely and always knows when to use the move stirs up something in his brain.

Clary's physical ability was changing (for the better), but there were other changes as well. Clary and Jace had developed an intimate training strategy—Jace would show her the move and then he would guide her through it, his hands on her arms.

On Week Two Day Five, Jace waits half an hour, impatiently, for Clary to show up. When she does, he's furious.

"Do you have any idea how close we are to your fight? You need all the training you can get. The least you could do is take it seriously."

She holds up her hands palms up in a peace-making gesture. "I'm sorry, Jace. I was grabbing some stuff." She raises the bag from behind her back and Jace almost licks his lips in anticipation when he sees the Pizza Hut logo. He tackles her and doesn't hold back, because he knows she can take it. Sure enough, his arms meet a solid wall as she leans all of her weight onto her heels and simply throws back her head and laughs. The sound resonates through the empty building as Jace returns her smile and ducks to steal the pizza away from her.

He finishes off an entire pizza but he only lets her eat a few slices because she needs to stay in shape for her imminent fight. Jace is facing Meliorn tomorrow, so he steps into the ring with Clary to get a practice fight in. All of his punches start off soft, but she steps back and glares at him until he agrees not to make it easy for her. Pretty soon, they're both out of breath.

Clary leans in and grabs his neck. Jace can tell that this is the kick and twist move, so his mind quickly envisions escape routes from her kick, but instead she pulls him even closer and brushes her lips against his.

Before he even has time to enjoy it, she pulls away and blushes a deep scarlet. "I didn't mean to do that."

He shakes his head, his blonde hair flopping into his face. "It's okay," he replies nonchalantly, but for some reason he almost can't get the words out of his mouth. Jace raises both fists up and they're at it again.

Before he can even fathom what he's doing, he's got her in the exact same lock from before and plants his lips firmly on hers. There's about 5 seconds of resistance before she kisses back ferociously.

All of a sudden, it's too hot, and Jace feels like he's melting. When Clary pulls away, she contemplates his expression slowly. "I think we're done for today," she announces softly before leaving.

Jace isn't sure what she saw—or what she misinterpreted—but he knows he has to clear things up when she shows up to practice the next day.

When he goes home, he realizes that he needs to plan some sort of an apology. He knows she likes scotch, but he wants to find out more. When he types "Clary Fray" into the Facebook search engine, though, no one shows up. The same thing happens when he types her name into Google. It's a bit suspicious but he shrugs it off and goes to the grocery store to buy a bottle of scotch.

The next day, Clary is already waiting for him in the fight club when Jace shows up. He pulls her out of the ring and sits her down, handing her a shot glass.

"You can pretend yesterday didn't happen," she says slowly. "I saw your expression afterwards and I don't need your pity."

"I don't pity you, Clary, I love you." He didn't even plan on saying the words, but they're out and 100% true. She meets his gaze, surprised, and sets her shot glass down. It's a heartbeat before she leans into him and kisses him, hard. Pretty soon, they're entangled in an embrace that far surpasses the trainer-student relationship.

An hour later, Jace suddenly remembers his questions. "By the way, do you have a Facebook? Because I couldn't find you on there."

His girl hesitates for a moment. "Clary Fray isn't my real name. It's Clarissa Morgenstern."

Jace flinches immediately and he sees a flash of hurt on Clary's face. "You mean," he asked, "the daughter of Valentine Morgenstern? The murderer?"

"He didn't murder Gideon Lightwood!" she defends emphatically, standing up instantly. "He's been wrongfully accused."

Suddenly, everything makes sense. Valentine Morgenstern was a mob boss who was known for being a good street fighter. Clary's bizarre skills and her secrecy must have come from her dad's training. Her agility reminded him of Valentine—whom Jace had the unfortunate opportunity to fight once. Jace remembers the front page news on CNN about Valentine and glances at Clary. "I don't know. There was a lot of evidence stacked up against him."

"He was framed. And the people who did it have connections. They keep pushing back his trial and I don't have the money to post bail for him." Her voice drops down to a whisper. "I heard that there are death threats against him. That's why I need to win against Sebastian. I need the money to save my dad."

For some reason, he's easily swayed and they resume their training without another word.

* * *

Jace is having a hard time keeping his pizza down because of all his worry for Clary. He kisses her on the forehead as she swallows another gulp of water. She doesn't say it but he knows that she's incredibly nervous.

"You're going to be fine. You're going to win that money." As soon as his words come out though, he realizes they weren't well chosen. At the mention of the money, Clary whitens. There's $1,963 betted against her. It's a record amount of money and for good reason. No one thinks a tiny 100-pound girl can defeat Sebastian Verlac, the reigning champion of the fight club.

"I'm going in," she says firmly, though her hands are shaking. Jace dips his chin and kisses her, hard, pressing her against the wall. She rests her hands on his chest. "I'm going to win," she murmurs, more to convince herself than Jace.

The second she steps into the ring, Jace gulps. She looks like a minnow in front of the shark-like Sebastian Verlac. Verlac flexes his muscles, drawing applause from the audience. When Clary stretches her arms out, the stadium is almost dead silent.

Verlac throws the first punch and Clary dodges it easily like Jace taught her. She ducks under the swing and appears behind Verlac, who spins around instantly and slugs her. He hits his target and she doubles over, with a gasp of surprise.

She braces herself against the ring as she catches her breath but Verlac is already headed towards her.

"You can do it!" he can't help screaming as she leaps to her feet. With a strong spring off the elastic rings, she tackles Verlac. He's barely bruised, since she's so small, but he's caught off-guard and that's all that counts. She gets a few solid punches in to his face but pretty soon, he has two hands in a tight grip around her neck. She begins turning purple and he throws her onto the ground when a few audience members pipe up about the rules.

"There are no rules," he sneers as he launches a series of punches and kicks.

Jace can't watch his girlfriend get beat up but the people around him hold him back when he makes a move to leap into the ring to protect her. When he looks up again, she's nearly unconscious, broken, and bloody.

"Clary!" he yells, but his voice is only lost in the screams of the audience.

It seems like she hears him. Her body twitches behind Verlac, who's busy soaking up the audience's cheer. She props herself up with her elbow and steadily fixes her calculating eyes on her opponent.

"She's up!" A man next to Jace yells, and Jace socks him in the stomach. He immediately apologizes but grits his teeth as Verlac swings around. Clary wasn't ready but she immediately springs into motion. She leans onto her toes and leaps up, swinging her legs around his neck. She jabs expert fingers all over his face and then she's a flurry of movement. Within her battle strategy is the signature kick and twist move, which she executes masterfully.

The crowd is silent when, a few minutes later, Verlac leans forward and slams into the floor. His face is bruised all over and a blow to his temple had knocked him out.

Clary hesitantly puts an ear to his chest and nods. "He's alive. I believe I've won."

A man silently walks up and hands her a sack of money. She peeks inside and nods, satisfied.

When she steps out of the ring, Jace is there just in time to catch her as she falls. He plants a sloppy kiss on her lips. "Good fight."

"I beat the crap out of him," she murmurs as she falls unconscious in his arms.

"You did. People will be singing about your fight for the next few weeks."

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait! I hit a major case of writer's block and I was trying to honor the Rihanna request in one of the reviews, but I just couldn't find a good song that would match Clary and Jace. This story was a bit more gory and more lengthy, but I'm still working on my writing skills. Please hit me with your song requests and I'll start working on the next chapter. Thanks for your patience!**

**~BubblyFanatic**


	3. We Don't Talk Anymore

"We Don't Talk Anymore" by Charlie Puth ft. Selena Gomez

_We don't talk anymore_  
_Like we used to do_  
_We don't love anymore_  
_What was all of it for_  
_Oh, we don't talk anymore, like we used to do_

_Don't wanna know_  
_Kind of dress you're wearing tonight_  
_If he's holdin' onto you so tight_  
_The way I did before_

* * *

**Jace**

Winter formal was coming, and Jace was definitely not looking forward to it.

Alec had been on his case for the past few weeks, giving Jace lists and lists of potential dates and endlessly nagging him to hurry up and just ask someone. When Jace staunchly refused, continuously ticking names off the list – "Maia? I'm not into brunettes. And don't even get me started on Seelie's pretentious attitude"—Alec just gave him a knowing look.

Jace hated the look. He knew what Alec's sympathetic smirk and raised eyebrows meant. But Alec was wrong. Jace was over Clary Fray, 100% over her. It didn't matter that he compared every new girl to Clary (and realized, in disappointment, that these college girls just didn't stack up) or that winter formal was on the date of his anniversary with Clary. He was over her.

As the day of his first winter formal as a college freshman drew closer, Jace couldn't help but remember the last few days of the summer before college. He and Clary had the most delightful summer, having dated all throughout senior year of high school. They had gone on a road trip together, swam in the lake, and made s'mores over a mini bonfire. They had explored their childhood town and danced under the stars, even on cloudy days when the moon wasn't visible. Yet, their days had been numbered. A gifted artist, Clary was attending the Rhode Island School of Design while Jace was going to Stanford University – a solid 3,125 miles apart. They had decided to breakup on good terms, rather than risk heartbreak through a failed long distance relationship.

Every day, Jace regretted the decision. Sure, he and Clary had tried to stay friends at first, but the time zone difference and their busy schedules just hadn't allowed it to happen. Now, he relied on Snapchat to keep tabs on what she was up to: what her new art piece looked like, when she got a haircut, and where she went over Thanksgiving break.

When Alec handed him two tickets, insisting that he take Maia to the dance, because "she's a damn nice girl, even if she isn't your type," Jace just sighed in exasperation and acquiesced. Alec and Magnus were giddy with excitement and planned out his outfit, a black suit with a gold tie to match Maia's glittery dress. They weren't wrong about Maia: she was a very nice girl with a sense of humor and a kind smile, but she just wasn't what Jace wanted. Jace was polite throughout the night, paying for her pasta dinner and leading her onto the dance floor when the moment called for it. In fact, he was even starting to enjoy himself.

All of that went out the window the minute he caught a glance of bright red hair. The shade of red that he remembered vividly from the summer before college.

"Excuse me a minute," he mumbled in Maia's ear, before slipping into the crowd to find her. He maneuvered his way through couples grinding and girls sashaying before he saw her. Clary Fray, in the flesh, at Stanford University. His heart thudded in his chest and he froze.

Her beautiful red hair cascaded down her back, her signature look in formal settings. She had always complained about her frizzy hair and was adamant against trying to tame it into a topknot. She was wearing a pale green dress that went to her knees but hugged her curves tightly. When she laughed, a carefree giggle, her emerald green eyes sparkled like a gem. Jace's breathing became shallow as all of his happy shared memories with her flooded back to him.

The minute he followed Clary's gaze, his happiness faded. Clary threw her head back in response to a guy's joke. Sebastian Verlac. Jace had always hated him and his slicked-back hair. Sebastian was as fake as could be and never went anywhere without two girls hanging from his arms, but it seemed like he now had his eyes set on Clary. Sebastian reached for Clary's arm and pulled her into a hug. Clary's eyes registered surprise before she leaned into his embrace, saying something that made Sebastian chuckle.

That was it. Before he knew what he was doing, Jace had stormed up to them and snatched Clary from Sebastian's hug. Clary turned rigid when she saw him and Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"Wayland, I would introduce you to this nice East Coast girl I just met, but it seems you two are already acquainted."

"Stay away from her," Jace snapped.

* * *

**Clary**

It sounds dumb, but she swore her heart skipped a beat when he came up from behind her and put a possessive hand on her waist, tugging her away from Sebastian.

Blond hair in his eyes, Jace's eyes were flashing a dangerous shade of gold.

It wasn't like she wasn't expecting to run into him. When she realized that her school's winter break started a week earlier than Stanford's did, she texted Isabelle and Isabelle had booked her a ticket straight to California. Stanford was a beautiful school and home to Clary's best friend. But it was also home to Jace, her ex-boyfriend, the one she still wasn't quite over.

Clary had expected to run into Jace at some point during her visit, and she would have been lying if she denied that she had looked for him when she first walked into the winter formal ballroom, but Isabelle had introduced her to a few friends and she began to enjoy herself. Sebastian had come up to her. Charming and handsome, he seemed like a nice guy and Clary had hit it off with him.

Whatever attraction she had been feeling toward Sebastian, however, was quickly overshadowed by the memories of her romance with Jace. He was glaring at Sebastian. "Did you hear me, Verlac?"

Sebastian didn't back down, dark eyes sparkling. He reached for my hand. "Clary and I were actually heading to the dance floor." He gave Jace a fake apologetic look and Clary stared at her toes as she followed Sebastian. Sebastian was easy to dance with and soon enough, she was tossing her hair to the beat.

Just as the next song was coming on, Jace returned, hissing at Sebastian. "Alright, you've had your fun, Verlac. My turn." He grabbed Clary's wrist and hauled her outside. "What are you doing?" he growled at her.

She froze, already feeling her cheeks turning red. She hated that he still had this effect on her, even four months later. "Uh, I'm visiting Stanford because I'm on winter break?" She managed, hating the nervous waver in her voice.

He scoffed and continued glaring her. "Not that, Clary. I mean, what are you doing dancing with Sebastian Verlac?"

Her nerves vanished and she pulled away from his grip, crossing her arms. "I was meeting new people and enjoying his company," she responded sharply.

"He's a bad guy, Clary, and he's a lying player," Jace retorted, suddenly exasperated. He let go of her wrist and ran a distraught hand through his hair. Some of the gelled strands fell down and Jace once again looked like the playful boy she knew.

She swallowed hard, hating her observations, and looked away. "Jace, you have no right to control what I do. We aren't even friends."

She bit her lip furiously, the frustration from the past four months rushing back into her. She had missed him so much and stalked his Instagram to see what he was up to, only to see him constantly surrounded by hot girls. She had decided to stop talking to him to get over him, but to be quite honest, it wasn't very effective.

When she turned to look at him again, she was surprised to see a touch of anguish in his intense gaze.

"To be honest, I wish we tried harder to stay friends," he said after a moment's pause.

She hesitated. "Me too, but I think it's better this way." It hurt her to lie, but she definitely needed to move on. "We don't talk anymore, but at least you've managed to replace me quickly, huh?" She didn't mean to voice the last sentence, but at least she had managed to hide the bitterness she was feeling.

Jace's eyes widened in confusion, before hiding everything in a hooded expression. "There hasn't been a girl in my life since we broke up, Clary."

She rolled her eyes at him, wiping her sweaty hands on her green dress. "You don't have to lie. I'm happy for you and your girlfriend."

His eyebrows knitted together again before he crossed his arms, his suit jacket scrunching around his muscles. "If you're talking about the girl in my recent Instagram pictures, that's Maia and we only take pictures together because we're partners in a consulting club." At the mention of Maia, he frowned again.

Clary didn't want to guess at whatever internal conflict Jace was having, but she couldn't help but question, "Clearly you have some feelings for her."

"She's my date to winter formal, and I just realized I've left her alone for a while," Jace mused quietly. "But I had to come find you the minute I saw you walk in, Clary."

She startled at his confession and met his gaze again.

He swallowed. "You can't just walk in, looking beautiful and rocking that dress, and expect me not to notice."

"I didn't think you would be here," she replied, trying to ignore his honesty. "But, um, you look good too." And he really did. His black suit fit him perfectly and the gold tie brought out the color in his eyes.

He smirked at her. "Four months later and you're still not immune to my charms," he teased.

"I've always been immune."

Jace's eyes seemed to burn as he pulled her closer and bent his head down. Nose to nose with him, Clary's breath hitched. He pulled her closer into a tight embrace. "Still immune?" he whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her earlobe.

She gulped and forced herself to nod. He let out a disbelieving laugh and suddenly, she was pushed against the wall. He met her gaze for a few seconds, holding her in place, before his lips crashed into hers hungrily.

Clary melted into the kiss, responding with equal passion. She wrapped her arms around the back of his head and pulled him closer.

* * *

**Jace**

It was embarrassing, but he couldn't help but groan when her teeth nipped at his lower lip. She pressed her body against his and he couldn't feel anything but fiery passion.

So when Sebastian burst outside looking for Jace's girl, he broke Clary's kiss to snarl, "Get out, Verlac," before meeting her lips once more. He heard a disgusted noise and the slam of the door but he didn't care.

Apparently, Clary did. She pulled away from him, red hair tousled and lips swollen. "Jace, what are we doing?"

"For the past four months, I've wished that we never broke up," he responded quietly. "I haven't been able to date anyone because I can't forget you."

Her green eyes clouded and she bit her lip again, clearly distraught. "We broke up because we didn't think this could work."

"We never tried."

She frowned. "I need to move on, Jace."

His heart pounded as he tried to calm his emotions. That was the last thing he wanted to hear. "Clary—"

She surprised him by pulling him into another kiss. "Maybe we can try though," she mumbled against his lips.

He realized there were a lot of logistics involved with deciding to try long-distance, but he ignored them. He could think about them later, but for now, he wanted to enjoy his time with Clary.

Jace could have stayed there with her forever, but when people started pouring out of the ballroom, he knew the dance was over. "I need to apologize to Maia," he said to Clary, worried about her reaction, but she merely nodded. He grabbed her hand and led her back into the ballroom, where he found Maia chatting animatedly with Simon.

He moved to talk to Maia, but she caught his eye and gave him a look that told him to stay away while she hung out with Simon. He shrugged and, guilt-free, left the dance with Clary.

* * *

**Clary**

It wasn't fair how early she had to leave, but a few short days later, she was at the airport with Jace. Her flight was boarding in ten minutes and she was excited to visit her aunt and uncle in Las Vegas.

Jace helped her with her luggage and hugged her again. "So, just to reiterate, we're doing this long-distance thing, right?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "For the hundredth time, yes. We're doing this."

"You're going to call me every night, right? Don't leave me with radio silence like last time?"

Clary almost giggled at the panic in his eyes. "We'll talk every day. And I'll Facetime you when I'm busy. You can watch me work on my art portfolio or something."

He kissed her again and pulled her into a hug.

"When am I going to see you again, Jace?" she asked, suddenly worried. If she had to wait until the end of the semester in May before she could see him again, she was going to go crazy.

He smirked, pulling out a plane ticket from his pocket. "I bought this yesterday. See you in a month, babe. I have a week off at the end of January."

"That's still too long," she complained, but she flashed him a contented grin.

"See you in a month, babe."

* * *

**Hey guys! I've been so busy with life that I just realized it's been over a year since I've updated this story. I'm thinking of returning to update this story regularly, so let me know if you guys are still interested! As always, still taking recommendations for which song I should base the next chapter on. Happy December!**

**~BubblyFanatic**


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